This also confuses me. I figured "normal" people are not like us. :-)
Alan- remember others around here have been working their tails off to get that A1c of 6.5%. They come to Tu to celebrate their success with people who understand and can appreciate these types of successes. They decide to click on the Blood Work discussion and lo and behold what do they see? The ALMIGHTY perfect blood sugar Alan telling the their A1c sucks? Would make me not want to come back if i was in a place where I could give a lick less what your A1c is versus mine- I am only competing with myself. I find things in life are as black and white as you like to portray them.
That I agree with! I'm pretty sure most A1Cs will be made up of ups and downs and a 6.5 is going to have some ups that are at unhealthy levels embedded into it. I think 6.5 is very good for a lot of people but that it shouldn't be the end and that the push to more understanding and testing should continue.
Everyone, let's take a moment to remember one of our most important values in the community is that of diversity and respect. Quoting from the post "Values of TuDiabetes": "We value diverse points of view. All people touched by diabetes are welcome. You may find opinions and positions that are not similar to yours and it's ok to disagree. It's just not ok to do so in a disrespectful manner. If you are unsure about whether something may be disrespectful to others, try to put yourself in the shoes of the other person and consider how you would feel if you were on the receiving end of the comments/contribution you are making."
Incendiary personal comments between members isn’t tolerated and forums are moderated to foster intelligent and supportive discussion. If you dislike the manner in which a member conducts themselves, it is your right to notify the Admin Team and we will handle it. Members conducting themselves in a hostile manner put their membership at risk.
We don't expect everyone to agree on everything, but let's please make sure we do so being mindful of how things come across, respecting others.
Please review http://tudiabetes.com/profiles/blogs/the-values-of-tudiabetes.
Thank you.
I AGREE WIT YOU
Yeah, you are, and you CAN fix it with a pump. It's so much easier than if you were on Lantus once a day. Starting around 3 AM, increase your insulin. Start by a small amount: .1 or even .2/hr (I'd start at .2, myself; you wake up pretty high.) Check your blood sugar in the morning for a few days, Adjust accordingly. You probably need a bigger increase than .2.
[[Like I said above, I aim to keep my fasting <100, ideally more like 70-80. And my DP is WICKED in pregnancy -- the placenta pumps out crazy anti-insulin hormones. So I have to adjust my early AM basal like every few days. I do it a tiny bit at a time: .1/hr, for example. My overnight basal is now about 3x what it was before I was pregnant (as is my total daily dose...)]]
Tudiabetes Administration, I am a little confused why you posted this. When I posted this discussion about blood work I have found that the comments have been very usefull to me.I don't see where anyone has been disrespectful. All I see is comments where people are concerned for my wellbeing; which is more than I can say for the medical community. I don't like the fact that my A1C is at 6.9 and my endo tells me that I am doing good for a T1 and that I don't need to make any adjustments on my pump. Listening to her I get up every morning and need to give myself a 2 to 6 unit correction.
I have now started making adjustments on my pump to try and get it set right instead of doing what I have been doing. If the pump tells me to do a correction of 1 unit I would need to give myself 3 units to get my BG down to normal range. I am going to cotinue to make adjustments on my pump without her blessings because I'm tired of fighting the high BG's because of the pump not being set right.
I have been able to get way more usefull information from tudiabetes than I ever have from my endo.
I thank all the people on here for there many different points of view and all the help I have gotten from tudiabetes.
Thanks to all; Uniboy
A1c 6.5% is an average blood glucose of 139.85 mg/dL and that sucks.
I don't know how else to read the statement. An A1c of 6.5% average is 139.8 mg/dl and that sucks speaks for itself. I know what you are saying and I actually agree. However, many around here celebrate getting to an A1c of 6.5% and regardless of intent these types of statements are anything but supportive. I do not think anyone who is a member of this website could think an A1c of 6.5% is the pinnacle of achievement. The 5%'ers are vocal *AS THEY SHOULD BE*. It would be pretty hard to miss what people expect the payoff to be when A1c's are in the 5%.
Tu Admin- Perhaps it would be helpful to specify exactly what the concern is. Obviously I am missing something.......
Wow, Shoshana! 75 years! That is the longest I've ever heard. Congratulations! Back when you were diagnosed, you had very limited options for management; I'm sure they told your parents you wouldn't live past 40. I think people like you are a great role model to those who can't live their lives because they have been diagnosed with Type 1!
Good for you, Uniboy! We are conditioned to think doctors are the be-all and the end-all for medical concerns, and many of us with Type 1 have found that is not at all the case. I go to my doctor for prescriptions; I come here to give and receive advice and help. You're right that if you are continually having to give more insulin than the pump is setting or continue to have not so optimal results, then the settings need tweaking!
I think it's important to differentiate between understandable emotions and healthy debate and inappropriate attacks. I myself type 100 wpm+ and sometimes outrun my own brain and put things in a less than tactful way. If I offend someone I apologize; if I'm misunderstood I clarify.
I see both Alan's point of view and Moss Dog's. (If I may): Alan is disgusted with the low standards the medical community proposes, and wants people to not be limited by them. MD sees that someone may be struggling and have reduced their A1C from 8.0 to 6.5 and be, understandably proud of this, and be hurt by hearing "it sucks".
My view is that A1C's are helpful indicators but when we get on here and start comparing it can be harmful. Our lives, despite our common ground are so different in terms of resources (medical, diet, etc) and obstacles (stressful lives, an unsupportive partner, other medical problems, etc.). Then there is the totally random thing I call "the luck of the draw" where one person may effortlessly get flatline level control and another works hard and still struggles with 300s and 30s. If someone seems to not know some basics of D control, I'll share some tools with them. If someone seems to have emotional obstacles I'll point this out and recommend getting help. But I think the most important thing any of us on here can provide is support and one of the key components of support (this has been found even in studies of effective psychotherapists) is acceptance. It wouldn't be helpful if I "accepted" that someone has a high A1C (like many doctors seem to do) without advising some change. But it wouldn't be humane (or human) if I put them down for this.
ZOE,YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU SAID.WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT.DAYS ARE DIFFERENT.SO MANY THINGS CAN AFFECT OUR BLOOD SUGAR.GASTROPARESIS,FOOD,EMOTION,ETC...,AFTER 75 YEARS W. DIABETES I THINK I KNOW MY BODY BETTER THAN THE PUMP, & I AM STILL LEARNING...ON & ON & ON...
I think we all respond differently; for some tough love works, for others a more gentle approach.